How to spray tomato seedlings from whiteflies. Whitefly on tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers - methods of controlling the parasite. Biological and folk methods

When planting tomatoes, gardeners often look forward to the next harvest and plan what dishes and preserves they will make from ripe berries and vegetables. Often, a lot of pests lie in wait for the crop, and in order to protect it from their attacks, a lot of effort must be made. The whitefly can be a source of great crop damage. Learn more about how to recognize an insect and how to eliminate it.

Where does whitefly come from on tomatoes?

Experienced gardeners who grow tomatoes in the garden or in the greenhouse know how important it is to carefully inspect the plant's bushes during the seasonal period. Be prepared for the whitefly to be found on the foliage and stems during inspection.

This butterfly got its name from the white, almost transparent color of its wings. It is small, about 3 mm long. On the white wings you can see a small powdery coating. The harm from such a small fly is that it draws all the juices from the plant (it is the juices that are its food). The leaves of the affected culture turn pale, and soon completely lose their color. The complete death of the plant occurs.

The first inspection of the culture should be carried out within 10-12 days after planting the seedlings.


White butterflies appear on plants during the warm summer months. It is important that there is a lot of precipitation, because for this aphid warmth and moisture are optimal living conditions. If the air temperature drops to + 10ºС and below, then adult butterflies die. It should be noted that their eggs do not suffer from low temperatures in any way and tolerate even severe frosts well. During the season, one female can lay about 250 of them.

The whitefly does well in greenhouses and greenhouses. "Resort" conditions for it are considered to be the temperature of humid air + 20- + 22ºС, thickened plantings of crops in a greenhouse or in open ground. That is why it is necessary to ventilate greenhouses so that the air does not stagnate.

Important! The source of reproduction of the whitefly can be contaminated soil that got to the site or into the greenhouse along with seedlings, and the seedlings themselves. Larvae can start in the remains of leaves and tops of plants that have not been harvested since autumn.

Signs of infection

At the initial stage of appearance, it is not so easy to see the whitefly: you need to carefully examine the back side of the leaf. And if we take into account the fact that gardeners plant large plantations of tomatoes, then such a thing is not only troublesome, but also physically exhausting. In addition to inspection, there are other methods and signs that give out a whitefly.

When growing tomatoes, you should pay attention to:

  1. Above the bushes of plants can be seen white cloud of moth-like midges. The cloud soars especially intensively after shaking the bush.
  2. Scales appear on the back of the leaf, which are hard to see due to their translucent color. These are the larvae of the pest.
  3. The appearance of honeydew on the leaves- white sticky coating.
  4. Blackening of parts of the bush infected with sooty fungi. Such sooty fungi are the waste products of an insect.
  5. Slow development of bushes: Tomatoes that suffer from whitefly attacks are stunted.
  6. Leaves on tomatoes turn pale and curl.


What is dangerous whitefly

From the attacks of whiteflies, it is not so much the part of the plant on which they are located that suffers, more harm falls on the parts that are located below, because all the waste products of insects linger on the lower sheets, forming a film of sticky whitish coating. This phenomenon is provoked by the fact that moth feces contain fungal spores that take root in leafy tissues. We are talking about sooty fungi. The infected part of the leaf is covered with a white coating, then turns black and dies. This is fraught with the death of the entire tomato plantation. And there can be no question of any harvest.

The body of whitefly larvae hatched from eggs releases a sticky enzyme that resembles liquid wax. Thanks to this enzyme, the aphid attaches to the surface of the plant. And given the fact that pests live on the bottom of the leaf, then this enzyme is simply necessary for them. In addition, sticky plaque is a favorable environment for the life and rapid reproduction of soot fungus, the harm from which can be irreparable.

Methods of dealing with whiteflies on tomatoes

The fight against whiteflies can be complicated (or completely useless) by the fact that on parts of the crop pests can be located in different phases of their development: in the form of an egg, a moth, a larva. If you organize the struggle process correctly, planting tomatoes can be saved (and, accordingly, the harvest).

Did you know? Tomatoes are an ideal product for those who are on a diet: 100 grams of this ripe berry contains only 23 calories.

Chemicals

After detecting an insect in the garden or in greenhouses, it is effective to resort to chemical means of control. Processing plantations must be carried out in special protective clothing. Be sure to use a respirator. Such measures are necessary to ensure that chemical solutions do not get on the skin, eyes or respiratory system of a person.

Read more about how to process tomatoes:


Important! Solution cannot be used.» after he had stood. Even if a large amount of the diluted drug remains after processing, it is forbidden to store it and use it in the future.



  • "Talstar". The peculiarity of this insect-acaricide is that, due to its contact-intestinal action, it effectively helps to remove not only the whitefly, but also other insects that have coveted your plantings. Unlike the listed drugs, it not only paralyzes the nervous system, but also stops the nutritional function of aphids. For one hectare of plantings, up to 3 liters of working solution will be needed. The protection lasts for two weeks.


Folk remedies

Many gardeners are wondering what to do with the whitefly if there is no desire to resort to chemicals. The answer is simple: turn to the people's ingenuity. Some folk remedies that you can resort to will help in pest control:


Important! If the situation is abandoned, andwhitefly invasionsignificant, pest control should be organized by combining folk methods with insecticides.

Mechanical Methods

The most common way is rinsing with soapy water under considerable pressure. It is better to use laundry or tar soap. The ratio of dosages is 30-50 g of soap per 1 liter of hot water. It is necessary to carry out the spraying procedure three times, observing a weekly interval. With this tool, you can wash the leaves of tomatoes, but this is a rather troublesome task, especially for owners of large plantations.


Strengthen the effect of 1 liter of soap solution will help 150 g of kerosene. The agent should be thoroughly stirred until an emulsion is obtained, then warm water (5 l) is added. This tool is intended for irrigation of the soil in the greenhouse. Make sure that it does not get on the leaves or stems of the plant. After the irrigation procedure, the greenhouse is closed for 3 hours. At this time, the solution evaporates, and its evaporation kills the pest moths. After the procedure, you need to ventilate the greenhouse well. And after 4-8 days, repeat all the actions, because during this period new moths appear.

You can get rid of the larvae manually, but this method takes too long.

Gardeners also resort to collecting adult pests, using a small vacuum cleaner. It is recommended to carry out the procedure in the morning or evening, when it is cool outside. This can also be done on cloudy days.

Did you know?A tomato can be called a vegetable that gives joy, because it contains serotonin, a hormone of joy that can cheer you up.

biological method


Preventive measures

Despite the many methods of pest control, it is still better to simply prevent its appearance on tomatoes.

To do this, you should adhere to the following preventive measures:

  1. Prevent the appearance of gout, nettle, wood lice in the garden plot. These plants attract whiteflies.
  2. Monitor the temperature in the greenhouse. The best option is + 15ºС. A higher temperature becomes a favorable environment for the life of an insect.
  3. Ventilate the greenhouse in time in order to avoid an increase in air humidity.
  4. When planting a tomato maintain the necessary distance between seedlings so that there are no thickenings. So, only 4 seedlings can be planted per 1 m² according to the scheme: 50 x 50 or 70 x 30.
  5. In a timely manner stalk plants.
  6. When buying seedlings, it must be carefully considered.: larvae can hide under the leaves.
  7. Preparation of a garden plot for planting a tomato should begin in the fall.: the soil is cleared of tops, fallen leaves, the soil is loosened.
  8. greenhouse in which tomatoes will be planted, it is necessary freeze well in winter: it must be opened when the air temperature drops below -10°C (-15°C).
  9. Aphids can start on indoor flowers and only then move to the seedlings if you grow them on the windowsills yourself.
  10. Before planting tomatoes in the greenhouse, carefully disinfect it(use disinfectants - potassium permanganate, copper sulfate) and paint the details of the structure. The pest can hide in greenhouse crevices. Take care of good ventilation of the room.
  11. Do not fertilize the soil with compost.

Video: Another way to get rid of whiteflies

Do you still think that the most important thing in growing tomatoes is preparing the site and planting the plant? No and no again. The culture must be constantly looked after, protecting from pests. Otherwise, you can not wait for the harvest: it can be destroyed by an inconspicuous whitefly - a small moth. With properly organized care and observance of preventive measures, insect attacks can be beaten off almost painlessly.

The whitefly is a small white insect, 3-4 mm in size, resembles aphids in appearance, multiplies very quickly and settles in colonies on the lower part of the leaves. Whitefly often appears on tomatoes. If this happens, you need to start fighting it immediately, because. it sucks the juice out of the plant, causing it to die.

What is dangerous

The whitefly settles on cucumbers, cabbage, eggplant, home seedlings and even indoor flowers, but most of all it prefers tomatoes.

The cycle of development and reproduction of this pest is continuous, and if medical measures are not taken in time, the fight at an advanced stage will be useless.

Insects suck juices from leaves, shoots, flowers, which leads to yellowing of plants and subsequent death.

The greatest danger is the feces that these pests leave. In places of their appearance, soot fungus develops in the form of dark brown or black spots. This disease cannot be treated, so the affected bushes are removed from the garden along with the root and burned.

Signs of defeat

It is possible to detect that a whitefly has appeared on seedlings of tomatoes or already on adult plants by certain signs.

There are different methods of dealing with whiteflies on tomatoes: using pesticides, and using more loyal means. But here it is very important to take action in time, because after the appearance of the larvae, all actions will be useless.

The whitefly is one of the insect pests that is very difficult to deal with. Winged individuals have a wax-like coating on the surface of the body, through which toxic substances almost do not penetrate. The main struggle has to be waged with motionless non-winged individuals.

Pesticide

Chemical methods of control are among the most effective - they help to remove pests in just 1-2 treatments.

The active components of insecticides penetrate into plant tissues and poison their juice. Insects that feed on sap die instantly.

According to the nature of the action, insecticides are divided into enteric-contact ones, which destroy pests with a direct hit of the drug (Arrivo, Apache, Decis), systemic - they are embedded in plant tissues and cells and remain poisonous to insects for several weeks (Confidor, Aktara, Komandor). There are also two-in-one complex preparations that work as an enteric-contact group, and as systemic insecticides - Tanrek, Apaches, Aktellik.

Drug Overview

  1. Encarsia. The females lay their eggs inside the larvae. The revived encarsia begin to eat away the tissues and lead to their death. Three insects per m² are enough to destroy all pests.
  2. Macrolophus. A microscopic bug that exterminates the whitefly. For complete destruction, 5 insects per m² are required.

Mechanical

Another mechanical method is setting traps. Such funds are sold in any gardening store.

You can also do it yourself at home - take a sheet of bright paper (red or yellow), grease with honey or petroleum jelly. Butterflies flock to bright bait, and after touching the sticky surface, they die. The used trap is burned.

If you are growing a cold hardy variety, cold air can be applied. These pests cannot stand low temperatures, as a result of which they die in a few hours of hypothermia.

Fumigation

This technique will give a positive result, subject to regular use, at least twice a year. In this case, insecticidal checkers are used. After their installation, the room is tightly closed for several hours.

Fumigation can destroy adults, eggs and larvae.

Folk

Many gardeners use folk (home) remedies in the fight against this pest.

  1. Garlic tincture. 4-5 cloves are used for 1 liter of water. They are cleaned, crushed, filled with water and insisted for a day, then filtered and irrigated bushes and soil.
  2. Yarrow tincture. For 3 liters of boiling water, use 200 g of fresh, chopped grass. Withstand 2 hours, then filter and spray the bushes.
  3. Tobacco infusion. 100 g of grass is poured into 1 liter of warm water, left for 48 hours, and then the bed is treated.

Folk recipes give a good result with a slight defeat of tomatoes. A double treatment is carried out with a frequency of a week.

Forget about the whitefly in your yard! An easy solution to the whitefly problem.

WHITEFLY on tomato/cucumber! how to get rid of the pest?

How to deal with whitefly. VIDEO

Prevention measures

Both chemical and folk remedies are used to control insects, but experience shows that it is difficult to destroy the pest.

The whitefly is quite common in horticultural crops and causes great damage to the crop. This is a species of midge that resembles a tiny white moth. Its size is only 1-2 mm in length, and the wings are covered with a white coating that resembles powder. These insects multiply rapidly, one female can lay up to 250 eggs on tomatoes. The larvae look like yellowish-transparent scales. They attach to the back of the leaves of the plant and absorb their juices, sucking out all the useful substances with them, as a result, after a while the leaves become colorless or darken, wither and fall off, and in the future the plant may die.

There are two types of these pests: greenhouse and indoor. lives mainly in warm climates, prefers to live in vegetable greenhouses and affects peppers, cucumbers, watermelons, melons, lettuce, celery and some flowers. In total, there are up to 300 plant species in its diet. But her favorite delicacy is tomatoes. If you find the activity of these pests in your greenhouse, immediately begin to take measures to destroy them, which is why it is so important to know about tomatoes in the greenhouse. Otherwise, the pests will destroy the tomatoes, move to the bushes of other crops and can cause irreparable damage.

Important! When the whitefly sucks the juice from the plants, the excess comes out and remains on the leaves in shiny, sticky streams. This is a favorable environment for the occurrence of fungal infections. Adult insects are also carriers of viruses.

Whitefly life cycle

It is important to know how these pests reproduce and develop in order to competently and effectively deal with them. Often, many summer residents make every effort to destroy adult insects when a lot of larvae have already been deposited. Let's consider this insect in more detail. The whitefly looks very similar to aphids, only, unlike aphids, it is white. She lives in groups on the underside of plant leaves, where she lays her eggs.

The larvae hatch quickly and start looking for food on their own. It is this moment that should not be missed in the fight against this pest. As soon as the larvae pupate, no remedy will take them, since their body is enveloped in a dense wax coating. That is, the cocoon of this insect is practically impenetrable. And if young individuals appear from the pupae, the harvest is over, because the bodies of young whiteflies are also covered with wax, so it is very difficult to exterminate them, and the cycle will repeat.

Signs of a pest infestation

Greenhouses, conservatories and greenhouses are ideal places for whiteflies to breed and live. She prefers a warm climate and high humidity. It is transmitted mainly through infected plants and with planting material. Before you start fighting the whitefly in a greenhouse on tomatoes, it is important to make sure that this particular insect is attacking your crop. The following characteristic signs indicate the presence of whiteflies:

  • white midge, similar to a small moth and flying over plantings of tomatoes;
  • if you shake the bush of the plant a little, a white cloud of insects will appear;
  • translucent and barely noticeable scales are glued on the lower part of the sheet;
  • sticky and shiny plaque on the leaves of vegetable crops;
  • many dark spots on plants arising from infection with soot fungus, which is a frequent companion of the whitefly;
  • infected plants lag far behind in development and growth;
  • white dots on the leaves of plants, later the leaves fade, turn yellow and curl;
  • necrosis develops on the fruits, the pulp becomes white.

If you see several of these signs in your greenhouse, it means that your vegetable crops are infected with dangerous pests. Fighting whiteflies on tomatoes is a matter of time and your patience. There are many different ways to fight, the main thing is not to miss the moment.

Important! The most productive time for the destruction of the whitefly is the moment when the butterflies have appeared, and the larvae on the tomatoes have not yet been found.

Fighting whiteflies in a greenhouse on tomatoes

First you need to eliminate the adult insects that are involved in the breeding process. The following methods apply here:

  • Washing leaves. Before this procedure, if there are not very many plants, you can collect the whitefly by hand. Then treat the bushes with soapy water and rinse with water.
  • Knock insects off plants with a jet of water.

The advantages of these two methods are that, in addition to insects, sticky plaque and soot fungus are removed from the crops, it becomes easier for plants to breathe after water procedures.

Other methods include:

  • Velcro is a common and effective way to control whiteflies. For self-production, you need to take yellow cardboard and grease its surface well with petroleum jelly. Insects are attracted to the bright color and stick to the trap, when a lot of them stick, the Vaseline can be wiped off and a new layer smeared on.
  • Heat the rosin in a water bath, add castor oil and honey, apply the mixture on yellow or blue cardboard or plywood and spread it throughout the greenhouse;
  • Treat the tomato bushes with an anti-scabies emulsion purchased at a pharmacy. It is necessary to make a solution at the rate of 50 grams of emulsion per liter of water and treat the tomato bushes well;
  • Using the herb yarrow can help you save your entire garden. To prepare it, you need to grind 80 grams of grass, pour a liter of boiling water and insist in a dark place for a day. Then wipe the leaves of infected plants with this solution;
  • Garlic tincture - finely chop 10 grams of garlic and pour two liters of water, leave for a day in a dark, cool place, then spray the tomatoes with this solution.
  • Use this trap: take a few pieces of bright plastic and smear them with entomological glue. Attach a backlight to the plastic and hang the traps so that they are on the same level with the tops of the plants, many insects will fly and stick to bright light and color.

Using insect predators to control whiteflies

To get rid of the whitefly in a greenhouse on tomatoes, you can settle insects that feed on midges and their larvae:

Attention! During the fight against the whitefly, using encarsia pupae, chemicals cannot be used in the greenhouse.

  • Bed bug macrolofus. Shows high efficiency in the fight against whiteflies and their larvae in greenhouses with tomatoes. Five individuals are enough for 1 sq.m. After two weeks, it is necessary to repeat the resettlement.
  • Ladybug - quickly eats the whitefly. To attract them to the greenhouse, you can plant such plants: alissum, daisies, marigolds, tansy, yarrow.
  • Use of chemicals

    In advanced cases, it is necessary to apply radical pest control methods and use chemicals. They need to process not only infected tomatoes, but also plants that are nearby. Today, it is possible to buy various drugs in specialized stores: Actellik, Confidor, Pegasus, Verticillin, Fufanon, etc. In the instructions attached to each of them, you can learn about how to work with poison. Processing should be carried out several times until the complete extermination of insects. Be aware of the toxicity of these drugs and be sure to use personal protective equipment when handling: gloves, mask, protective clothing.

    Advice! When treating with insecticides, add crushed laundry soap or shampoo to them. Means will stick better to the leaves.

    The appearance of whiteflies on tomatoes is easier to prevent than to eliminate later. To do this, in the autumn it is necessary to burn the tops, dig up the soil in order to raise the larvae to the surface, and in winter they will die from cold temperatures. Remove the cover from the greenhouse or disinfect, wash the frame with bleach. Control the climate inside the greenhouse and ventilate it systematically. With careful care of crops, you are sure to be rewarded with healthy bushes and a rich harvest!

    When clouds of midges rise from plants with random shaking, the vegetable grower begins to worry about how to get rid of the whitefly in the greenhouse on tomatoes and other crops. Small insects resemble aphids and cause the same damage by drinking the juice from the fleshy leaves. But tomatoes suffer not only from this.

    This insect is a species of homoptera. The size of an adult individual does not exceed 3 mm, and when viewed through a magnifying glass, opaque white wings and a light, almost uncolored body become visible. The flying whitefly looks like an aphid or a small moth.

    When several mature insects enter greenhouses and greenhouses, it is quite difficult to notice them, so the gardener pays attention to the consequences of the activity of the larvae:

    1. Tomato seedlings develop twisted or deformed leaves that are smaller than normal. On the reverse side, you can see small caterpillars (about 1-2 mm) or traces of their stay: the remains of cocoons and secretions in the form of transparent, glue-like scales.
    2. Affected plants lag behind in growth, have a stunted appearance.
    3. On adult bushes, the ovaries cease to fill and ripen normally, acquire a pale shade or become covered with a dark coating.
    4. When breeding, whiteflies can already be seen. They swirl between tomatoes and take off from the plant when shaken.
    5. Over time, dark spots form on leaves where larvae and their secretions have been seen. This is what a sooty fungus looks like, which reproduces well and grows on a nutrient medium from insect secretions.

    If you see signs of a whitefly, get rid of the pest immediately. If this is not done, the larvae will pupate and turn into new flying insects, each female is able to lay more than 200 eggs.

    The easiest way is to destroy flying individuals. The larvae on the underside of the leaves are less accessible to the drug. When spraying bushes, you need to take into account their habitats and try to process the leaves from the underside.

    When the caterpillars pupate, it will be almost impossible to destroy them. Therefore, the fight against whiteflies on tomatoes should be carried out several times in a row, with an interval of 5-7 days, during which the pupae turn into adult flying insects.

    Insect control methods

    Control methods against whiteflies on tomatoes can be divided into mechanical, chemical and biological. All of them can be quite effective if you apply them correctly and process the tomatoes several times. These methods are capable of destroying both the adult generation and the larval stage.


    There are also folk ways to deal with the whitefly. They are quite harmless to humans, but may be ineffective if the pests have had time to multiply strongly. Folk methods are aimed more at scaring away insects than at their total destruction, therefore, such treatment is best done as a preventive measure if there is the slightest suspicion of the presence of whiteflies in the greenhouse.

    Chemical methods of protection

    The use of insecticides is a last resort in the fight against whitefly in a greenhouse on tomatoes and other vegetables. All drugs are toxic, and spraying aerosols indoors can be harmful to the owner himself. But with a strong whitefly infection, all means are good.


    When choosing how to treat plants, you can stop at special insecticides from sucking pests. They will destroy not only the whitefly, but also aphids, mites, bedbugs and other insects that suck juices, piercing the vegetation cover with their proboscises. From the drugs you can choose: Actellik and Aktara, Cypermethrin and Permethrin, Malathion, Neudosan, etc.

    Aerosol Kra-Deo Super is intended for flying insects. It is desirable to use it so that for some time the greenhouse remains closed, and no one enters it for at least a few hours. It is convenient to process the greenhouse at night. Biotlin has a similar effect.

    Mechanical methods

    The simplest methods are to collect the affected leaves along with the larvae and wash them off with soapy water by hand. This is laborious, but quite feasible when the colonies of larvae are few. Twisted leaves can be cut off and burned. We fight with larvae and a sponge dipped in a solution of laundry soap, gently moving along the underside of each affected leaf.


    For flying individuals, you need to make sticky traps. With a small number of insects, a fly tape can be used. But with a massive departure of whiteflies, it is better to make special traps.

    American entomologists have discovered that whiteflies are attracted to yellow and blue colors. In connection with this feature of the behavior of adult insects, a method of catching them was developed. To attract pests to traps, they are painted in the indicated colors. The basis of the trap can be a piece of cardboard or plywood.

    So, we get rid of the whitefly on tomatoes by the most advanced method. For this it is recommended:

    • paint a sheet of cardboard in yellow or blue (A4 format will be enough for 1-2 m³);
    • make a hole for hanging, thread the cord;
    • apply a layer of petroleum jelly to the surface (you can mix it with honey);
    • hang Velcro over the greenhouse area at a height of 1.5-1.7 m.

    Flying whiteflies will be attracted to bright surfaces and stick to the viscous mass. Traps are cleaned from time to time, scraping off the mass along with midges. After that, you can apply a new layer of petroleum jelly and hang the cardboard in the greenhouse.

    Biological methods

    On plants, you can also see a decaying lion, or lacewing larvae. These are small gray insects, with a baggy body, similar to bugs without wings. Often a smoldering lion sticks on itself the shells of the aphids it has eaten. You can transfer the lacewing larva to the greenhouse or look for the laying of its eggs: yellowish balls about 1 mm in size on long, thin “legs” sticking out perpendicular to the leaf. It is easy to catch an adult insect, which is also a predator. This graceful greenish creature with large transparent wings and expressive golden eyes.

    In large greenhouse farms, you can try to buy encarsia - a miniature rider that lays eggs in the bodies of whitefly larvae. Insects need to be released from the test tube in their greenhouse. The little helpers will take care of the destruction of pests themselves.

    Folk methods

    A good way to get rid of whiteflies in a greenhouse is to fumigate the area with smoke. It may help against flying insects and larvae, but the cocoons will remain intact, so the treatment will have to be repeated when a new generation hatches. For smoking, sawdust is placed on a baking sheet, moistened with water and put everything on an electric stove.


    To scare off whiteflies that have recently entered the greenhouse, spraying with infusions of herbs is used:

    1. Take about 100 g of yarrow herb, grind and pour 1 liter of water. Insist 2 days.
    2. Chop dandelions along with the roots, take 100 g of mass and insist in 1 liter of water for 2-3 days.
    3. Pass 1 head of garlic through a meat grinder, pour 0.5 liters of water and leave for 2-3 days.
    4. Instead of a garlic bulb, you can use its arrows, which are removed from the beds. It will take about 100 g of gruel from arrows and 1 liter of water.

    Spray the plantings of tomatoes and other plants in the greenhouse with the resulting infusions to mask their smell with unpleasant odors. If the whitefly does not find its food crops, it will leave the premises.

    You can often see how something similar to mold, but moving, attacks tomato seedlings from afar. It's a whitefly on tomatoes. She is a little white moth. Its size is up to 3 mm. The wings are covered with a coating that resembles powder. When adult whiteflies cover the plant, you can really think that it is covered with mold, it is quite difficult to fight it.

    Signs of defeat

    An adult whitefly can lay up to 300 eggs on tomatoes. Leaves turn white and sticky. In some places, black spots from a soot fungus appear. The larvae attach themselves to the back of the leaf and suck out the juice. Because of this, the leaves then dry up and fall off. The greenhouse whitefly can be found in the south of the country or in greenhouses. She "likes" tomatoes, cucumbers and small flowers. If you see her, immediately start fighting, otherwise she will easily move to other plants.

    Finding it is easy:

    • The presence of translucent scales at the bottom of the sheet is the larvae.
    • The appearance of honeydew, i.e. sticky and shiny coating. Like aphids, whiteflies leave honeydew as their waste.
    • Black heel, which occurs during the development of soot fungus.
    • Also, the tomato may grow slowly, the leaves will be puffy and twisted.

    Video “Whitefly”

    This video shows how to deal with whiteflies in a greenhouse.

    Ways to fight

    You can start fighting right in the greenhouse. There are various means of struggle. One of the means is a special trap that is smeared with glue. Today it can be found in special stores or make it yourself. We take a yellow cardboard and cover it with Vaseline. Whiteflies will fly to this color and then stick. With this method, they stick around the entire cardboard - then just wipe it and apply Vaseline again. Also, the insect can be killed with an emulsion from scabies. Dilute 100 g in 1.5 liters of water and spray everything.

    Another folk remedy that will help get rid of the pest is a solution of yarrow. It is necessary to grind 90 g of yarrow in 1 liter. water and leave in the shade for one day. Then strain it, and process the tomatoes with this solution.

    Also, laundry soap concentrate gets rid of them well. Rub the soap on a grater and dilute it with warm water in proportions of 1:6.

    An excellent remedy for whiteflies is garlic tincture. Chop 20 g of garlic, pour 4 liters. water. Infuse it for 24 hours, and then strain. Spray tomatoes with this infusion in the evening.

    You can also try to save the tomatoes with a jet of water. You can try to wash off young moths with water from a hose. And after that, you should loosen the soil under the bushes.

    However, before spraying, you need to clean the plant from plaque and adults. You need to spray a tomato no more than 2 times a week.

    If you find the pest too late, then you will need to apply radical control methods. You will have to use chemicals. In addition, you will need to treat them not only with tomato bushes, but also with nearby plants, otherwise they may become infected.

    Now there are a lot of different chemicals to combat the whitefly. Aktelik, Confior, Pegasus, etc. In the instructions you will learn exactly how, and in what proportions to use them.

    Aktara is a very popular whitefly remedy. It has a long period of action (about a month or two of protection). In order to kill the whitefly, the tomato is watered with Aktara's solution under the root. Nothing more needs to be done. They feed on plant sap. The reagent, in turn, gets into it, and all pests die. In order to kill the whitefly, you should immediately make Aktara's solution, 4-5 times more concentrated than usual. In order to make the mixture “for slaughter”, we dissolve the contents of the package in 2-2.5 liters of water and pour over the tomatoes!

    Confidor is a very strong insecticide. Within 2 hours after watering, the pests will begin to die. Two treatments are enough to "kill" the whitefly.

    Akarin kills whiteflies, spider mites, and even some subspecies of root-knot nematodes. This insecticide is used for spraying. You need to moisten the leaves and get on the pest.

    Spark. Produced in a variety of subspecies. Instantly gets into plant tissues and stays there for a month.

    Phytoferm - kills almost all pests. It will be enough to spend just a few sprays in order to kill the whitefly.

    Akkelik is another “killer mixture”. However, it is worth remembering that it has a 2nd class of toxicity and a very unpleasant odor.

    Whiteflies also hate the cold, so to get rid of them, they can be moved to a colder room. They can even be caught with sticky fly tapes!

    Prevention

    Firstly, you do not need to do a dense sowing, as this will disrupt the air circulation, and the infection will take place at lightning speed, it will be useless to fight the pest here. It is necessary to ensure the ventilation of the plantings, and also do not spray the plants in wet weather. If possible, then lower the temperature to 10 degrees for several days, since when the temperature drops, all adults and almost all larvae die.

    The fight against the whitefly can go into season. Chemicals have a very bad effect on both plants and people and even pets. Therefore, it is better to prevent the danger than to deal with it later.

    Immediately after disembarkation, it is necessary to carry out folk prophylaxis with proven methods. If you decide to plant tomatoes in a greenhouse, then you need good ventilation, and the air temperature should not rise above 15 degrees Celsius.

    Secondly, it is best to paint the greenhouse before planting. The earth must be removed from last year's grass, and then everything must be dug up. Do not leave compost for the winter, because this is a chic location for the winter "lodging" of the whitefly! In cold weather, you should open the greenhouse so that the pests freeze! If you purchase seedlings, then carefully check the plants!

    You can still carry out autumn prevention, as folk experts advise us!

    The first spraying is done right after the harvest, the next is done after the diseased plants have been removed. The tomato is treated with a 0.5% emulsion of karbofos. If you have a well-sealed greenhouse, then instead of a second spray, try fumigating with a sulfur lump. Set fire to lump sulfur and keep the greenhouse closed for a couple of days. In addition, it is necessary to do disinfection with sulfuric gas. 110 g of sulfur should be set on fire per 1 square meter of the greenhouse. Weeds should also be removed. In addition, observe the distance between vegetables. No need to plant them near the greenhouse. Vegetable greenhouses must be located at a distance of more than 10 meters from flower greenhouses.

    Video “We fight the whitefly in the greenhouse”

    In this video, an experienced gardener reveals the intricacies of pest control in a greenhouse.